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The Missing Link {April 2013 Blog Link Up}

The month of April has been a cold and snowy one here in Wisconsin, but finally, here in these last days of the month, Spring has finally decided to show her warm, sunny face. With temperatures now hitting the sixties and seventies, I have taken to the outdoors and begun cleaning out my flower gardens. I'm pleased to see some crocus bulbs coming up, and the green returning to my thyme.

Crocus bulbs peeking out of the warming ground.

Thyme beginning to green in spring.

The snow has nearly disappeared from our vegetable garden as well, and once it has dried enough, we can begin turning the soil. For now, however, the garden is still a spongy, muddy mess, so we wait. And look at the remnants of last year...like these onions we forgot about.

What happens if onions are left to grow for another year?

In the meantime, we can let our hens scratch around. Sometimes, they get lucky and find a worm or two to snack on. Maybe even a big juicy spider.

The chickens love foraging in the garden.

Kiwi is a sassy hen.

And while the hens are scratching about, I'll be going on walks and letting the sun soak into my skin while I search for more signs of spring. The river is quite high now from the spring run-off, and the ducks look like they are starting to pair off for some summer lovin'.

The river is high and fast right now.

Lookin' for love...

I hope she notices me...

Lucky duck.

It has been so very nice to feel warmth, it's been so long; winter clung to April and lingered, like a bad case of the flu. Luckily, I had some good reading from some of my favorite blogs to keep my busy during those cold days. In the month of April:

To avoid clogging and bad odors, sink and tub drains should be periodically cleaned.

A once a month cleaning with a non-toxic, homemade cleaner prevents needing a stronger, usually sodium hydroxide (lye) based, cleaner to remove clogs. Sodium hydroxide is extremely caustic, and will damage the lungs if inhaled, burn skin and eyes, and can be fatal if swallowed. In addition, the heat generated by using sodium hydroxide can soften PVC pipes, and damage old, corroded pipes. It also changes the pH of water and can cause fish kills.

A much nicer alternative to this harsh chemical is the simple combination of baking soda and vinegar, followed with boiling water. When baking soda and vinegar are combined, they foam and expand, cleaning the sides of your pipes and dissolving fatty acids. The boiling water then washes it all away. This method is a great way to use up the box of baking soda in your frig that is not longer doing a good job of deodorizing.

Every little thing you do helps and the small things really do add up. Which is why I have a somewhat creepy tub of soap scraps in my bathroom.

I admit, it seems a little weird to save soap scraps, but it wasn't always this way. In fact, they used to have little contraptions for saving your soap scraps.

But those days are gone. Or are they?

I think frugality is making a comeback--at least, it is around here, because I save all our soap scraps. What do I do with them?

Recycled Soap Scrap Bars

If you are regular users of bar soap, a family of four can easily manage to get six additional bars of soap per year by saving soap scraps. It doesn't seem like much, so I'll write it this way instead: in ten years, that would be 60 bars of "free" soap. There, that seems more impressive.

Ingredients:
Soap scraps
Water
Herbs (optional)

1. Grate or finely chop soap scraps. Measure the amount you end up wi…